How to recover Google Authenticator

Have you accidentally removed the Google Authenticator application that you used for two-factor authentication on multiple accounts from your smartphone and now don’t know how to reinstall it? Have you downloaded the Google Authenticator app on a new device and now you don’t know how to restore the accounts stored on it? Is the phone or tablet you used to authenticate yourself with the aforementioned app unusable because it is broken and you don’t know how to access your online profiles?

Don’t worry: there are several possible solutions to these problems and most of them are very easy to apply. If, therefore, you want to proceed with the next lines of this tutorial, you will find explained just how to recover Google Authenticator in order to regain possession of all your accounts protected with two-factor authentication.

If you agree, I would say not to go further and go directly to “practice”. Take five minutes of free time, read the information that best suits your case among those below and put them into practice. I just have to wish you a good read and a big good luck for everything!

Index

  • How to reinstall and reset Google Authenticator
  • Retrieve Google Authenticator account
    • If you have your Google account credentials
    • If you no longer have your Google account credentials
  • Recover Google Authenticator: broken phone
  • Retrieve Google Authenticator: Binance

How to reinstall and reset Google Authenticator

Are you asking me how to recover Google Authenticator because you inadvertently uninstalled the application from your smartphone or tablet? If so, you can fix it in a few simple “moves”. If you are using an Android device, simply connect to this Play Store page and then press the Install button at the top right.

Wait, therefore, for the download process to be completed and you can find the application on the home screen of your device or in the app menu.

If, on the other hand, you want to re-download Google Authenticator on an iPhone or iPad , visit the appropriate section of the App Store , then press the Get / Install button and, if requested, verify your identity with Face ID , Touch ID or Apple ID password . Once the download is complete, the application will be available on the home screen or in the App Library. Simple, don’t you think?

Once you open the app you just downloaded, you will notice that there are no longer any Google accounts or other types of “compatible” accounts with Authenticator (eg Facebook or Binance ) that you had previously connected to it and it will therefore be “empty “.

To “restore” the Google accounts previously paired with the app, you have two options at your disposal: import the latter from another device on which you have installed Google Authenticator (and registered the profiles you want to restore in it) or add the accounts again by performing ” from scratch ”the process of matching to the application.

In the first case, if you have previously opened the Authenticator app, close it and reopen it again. Once this is done, click on the ⁝ button located at the top right, then click on Transfer account and, from here, on Import account . Now you tap the button Scan QR code and provide the permission to use the camera for the app by tapping on the appropriate button .

Then proceed by opening Google Authenticator on the other device where you registered the profile to be transferred and go to ⁝> Transfer account> Export account . At this point, authenticate with the preset identity verification method (e.g. face data , fingerprint , or Face ID and Touch ID ), then select the account to transfer by tapping its name and press the Next button .

You will be shown a QR code . Now grab the device on which you want to import the selected account again, frame the QR code with the camera lens and that’s it. So repeat the steps listed above for all the profiles you want to restore on Google Authenticator.

If, on the other hand, you do not have another phone or tablet on which you had previously installed Authenticator and registered the accounts of your interest in it, you will have to re-pair the same profiles “from scratch”.

The process varies depending on which service you intend to connect to Authenticator. In general, however, to proceed you will need to access the two-factor authentication settings of the service you use (usually you will find these under the Security or Access items of the settings). In this way you will be able to obtain a configuration code or a QR code to be entered in Authenticator and then you will have to type the single-use code generated by the latter in the services you want to associate Authenticator with.

For details on these procedures, I invite you to consult my guide on how to activate two-factor authentication on the most popular and widespread services and video games. Once you have obtained the configuration code or QR code from the application or service you want to combine with Authenticator, start the latter and, if the initial tutorial is shown, press the arrow button at the top left to skip it .

At this point, tap the (+) button at the bottom right and select the option you prefer from those available ( Scan a QR code or Enter configuration code ).

In the first case, point the QR code you have available with the camera lens and that’s it; in the second, instead, assign a name of your choice to the account you are registering on Authenticator by typing it in the appropriate field, then type the previously obtained configuration code below and finally tap the Add button .

How do you say? Do you need to re-associate your Google account with Authenticator? In this case, connect (from smartphone, tablet or computer) to the security management page of your “Big G” profile. If you are asked to log in , enter your credentials in the appropriate fields and as a method of identity verification, select the option relating to the phone (or the other available options that you can have access to). Then type in the code you should have just received via SMS (if you have chosen the smartphone authentication option).

Once you have accessed the aforementioned page, click on the words Two-step verification and log in to your account again by entering the required credentials . Now press the trash can icon next to the App Authenticator item . At the bottom of the screen, then click on the Configure item in the App Authenticator field and then select the model of your smartphone by pressing the appropriate option ( Android or iPhone ).

Now open the Google Authenticator app on your device, press the (+) button at the bottom right, tap the Scan QR code item, scan the code in question with your smartphone or tablet and your Google account will be automatically associated to the application. Or, if the pairing does not happen automatically, enter the code shown in the Authenticator app in the appropriate field and press the Verify button .

Retrieve Google Authenticator account

Now that we have seen how to reinstall and restore the various accounts associated with Google Authenticator on the app itself, we will proceed by seeing how to access your Google accout to change the settings related to Authenticator and set up a new device to allow the app to work properly. Here are all the details.

If you have your Google account credentials

To start, connect (from computer or smartphone) to the Google account login page , enter your credentials and press the Next button . At this point you will be prompted to verify your identity with the Authenticator app. Then press on the words Try another method shown below and, at this point, click on the item Request assistance .

To continue, click on the item Proceed to account recovery , then on the Yes button and a code will be sent to the phone number set for account recovery: enter it in the appropriate field and press the Next button .

If, on the other hand, you do not have your phone available, press on the item Try another method and the recovery code will then be sent to the email address set for recovery (if you do not find the message from Google, check the Spam folders and Junk Mail ).

This way you should have just logged into your Google account. To change the options relating to Authenticator, connect to this address and click on the item Two-step verification ; then enter your Google account credentials again and press on Change phone in the App Authenticator section .

Now you just have to follow the same steps that I listed at the end of this chapter of the tutorial, when I explained how to associate a Google account with the Authenticator app.

If you no longer have your Google account credentials

Do you no longer have the login credentials to your Google account? Then, to change the options related to Authenticator, you will necessarily have to recover the password . To do this, connected to the Google login page , enter the Gmail address associated with your account, then press the Next button and then the word Forgot password? .

At this point, if you want to proceed with the recovery of the account via SMS code , press the Yes button ; otherwise click on the word Try another method and recover the account via the code received via email . Once you have accessed your Google profile, you can change the settings relating to Authenticator exactly as I indicated in the penultimate paragraph of the previous chapter . For more details on these procedures, I refer you to my tutorial on how to recover Google account .

Recover Google Authenticator: broken phone

Has the phone on which you used Google Authenticator dropped and is now completely unusable because it is broken ? You will still be able to continue using this application on any other Android , iOS or iPadOS device .

You will first have to download Authenticator also on your other phone or tablet (I showed you how to do this previously ) and, subsequently, you will need to log in to your Google account and change the device paired with the Authenticator app from the security settings of the your account. I have indicated all the necessary steps to perform this operation at the end of this chapter .

Retrieve Google Authenticator: Binance

How do you say? Have you been having trouble with the Google Authenticator option paired with your Binance account ? You must know that both from the site of the well-known cryptocurrency trading service and from the relative application, downloadable on Android and iPhone devices , it is possible to modify (by making a new pairing between Binance and Authenticator) or completely remove this authentication option.

If, on the other hand, you want to restore the accounts registered on the Authenticator app or change the phone set to use the latter, you will need to follow the instructions I have previously provided. To act from the Binance website , connected to the Binance home page , log in to your account by clicking on the word Login at the top and then enter the relevant login data .

Once this is done, click on the little man icon at the top right and, from the menu that is shown to you, select the Security item . At this point, if you intend to change the options relating to Authenticator, click on the Change button located next to Binance / Google Authenticator (recommended) and click on the Confirm button .

At this point, enter the verification code received via email , the one received via SMS and, finally, the code provided by Google Authenticator itself in the appropriate fields (you will need to press the text Send code from time to time to proceed).

If you do not have the possibility to obtain the code through Authenticator, click on the words Security authentication not available and you will be redirected to a page in which you will have to necessarily press on the entry the authentication via Binance / Google is not available and I would like to deactivate it and then on the button Reset .

At this point, you will be shown a QR code and you will have to frame it with the camera activated by the Google Authenticator application (we will show you in detail in this chapter how to carry out this step). Now take note of the recovery code of your account, then press the Next button and, on the next screen, enter the security code that was sent to you via email and what you see on the Authenticator application (it is shown in the section relating to ‘ Binance account ).

If, rather, you want to completely remove this authentication method from your account, click on the Remove button located next to Binance / Google Authenticator (recommended) , from here, click on the Confirm button and enter your account credentials and the verification code received via SMS .

If you want to repeat these steps from the Binance app , start the latter and tap on the little man icon at the top left; from here go to Security> Binance / Google Authenticator . Now, if you want to make a new pairing to the Authenticator app, click on Change the Binance / Google authentication , then click on the Continue button and repeat the steps listed above.

Otherwise, if you prefer to completely disable the option relating to Google Authenticator, press the switch next to the word Binance / Google Authenticator and type in the appropriate fields the security codes arrived via SMS , email and Authenticator (if you no longer have this available ‘last, press on the wording Security authentication not available and reset this option as I indicated earlier).

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